Since inception 10 years ago, The International Criminal Court has served its first verdict today. The ICC has found the Congolese warlord, Thomas Lubanga, guilty of recruiting and using child soldiers between 2002 and 2003.
Lubanga headed a rebel group during an inter-ethnic conflict in a gold-rich region of Democratic Republic of Congo and was accused of crimes against humanity: using children as young as nine as bodyguards, sex slaves and fighters.
The verdict was unanimous among the three judges that Lubanga bore responsibility for the recruitment of child soldiers who had participated actively on the frontline.
So it appears The Hague doesn't take 90 years as premiered in our local movies. Lubanga was arrested in 2005. That paves the way for the local lads to take the centre stage after Lubanga. And the precedent is not very pleasant. Interesting times lie ahead.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
No Monopoly of Tough Talk: Raila Breathes Fire
Call it playing hardball or foolish grandstanding. The so-called G7 have been lording it over Kenyans and maybe someone had to stand up to them. But when you set out to bell the cat you are better reminded of the lurking paws.
Raila has come out bare knuckles and confronted his opponents head on. Hitherto lukewarm, the PM has chosen to play hard ball and challenged Uhuru and Ruto to stop their ethnic incitements practiced under the pretence of prayer meetings.
The Uhuru-Ruto axis blundered big time with their poorly crafted Kanu-era like propaganda accusing Britain of scheming to have them arrested by ICC. But their real clincher was meant to rope in President Kibaki by insinuating that the pro-Raila West will have Kibaki handed in to ICC next year once he leaves power.
Well, this is 2012 and those weaned and nurtured in cheap propaganda can only rev in the same vice as they are swept downstream in the resulting embarrassment. But the plot was a typical cheap plot of playing into the ethnic insecurities stoking plastic patriotic embers. We have seen it here and almost everywhere with people chasing phantom imperialist shadows.
That leaked document was such an amateurish venture so mush so that it amounted to a national embarrassment complete with both spelling and grammatical errors. The whole joke must have been typed on an old rusty manual typewriter with no benefit of a basic spellchecker.
Yatta MP Charles Kilonzo may never get enough detergent to cleanse his face left plastered in smelly eggs. The poor MP thought he was hogging the political stage but only succeeded in being a flawless marionette and puppet. Now that both Britain and the NSIS have declared the leak as forgery, the onus is on the relevant offices to met commensurate punishment and deterrent for this blatant abuse of parliament.
Raila is no saint but somebody had to disabuse both Uhuru and Ruto of their bravado and fake invincibility. The gloves are off and the political heat can only get hotter. Game on 2012.
Raila has come out bare knuckles and confronted his opponents head on. Hitherto lukewarm, the PM has chosen to play hard ball and challenged Uhuru and Ruto to stop their ethnic incitements practiced under the pretence of prayer meetings.
The Uhuru-Ruto axis blundered big time with their poorly crafted Kanu-era like propaganda accusing Britain of scheming to have them arrested by ICC. But their real clincher was meant to rope in President Kibaki by insinuating that the pro-Raila West will have Kibaki handed in to ICC next year once he leaves power.
Well, this is 2012 and those weaned and nurtured in cheap propaganda can only rev in the same vice as they are swept downstream in the resulting embarrassment. But the plot was a typical cheap plot of playing into the ethnic insecurities stoking plastic patriotic embers. We have seen it here and almost everywhere with people chasing phantom imperialist shadows.
That leaked document was such an amateurish venture so mush so that it amounted to a national embarrassment complete with both spelling and grammatical errors. The whole joke must have been typed on an old rusty manual typewriter with no benefit of a basic spellchecker.
Yatta MP Charles Kilonzo may never get enough detergent to cleanse his face left plastered in smelly eggs. The poor MP thought he was hogging the political stage but only succeeded in being a flawless marionette and puppet. Now that both Britain and the NSIS have declared the leak as forgery, the onus is on the relevant offices to met commensurate punishment and deterrent for this blatant abuse of parliament.
Raila is no saint but somebody had to disabuse both Uhuru and Ruto of their bravado and fake invincibility. The gloves are off and the political heat can only get hotter. Game on 2012.
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